Shelf support



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Reissued Aug. 511941 U N IIED STAT ES T YOFlf-I C E V21,871 SHELF SUPPORT -Kenneth C. Welch,y Grand Rapids, Mich., assigner toGrand Rapids Store EquipmcntvGo., Grand Rapids, Mich., .a .corpcrationY of -.Michigan Original No. 2,208,234, dated July 116, 1940, Serial No. 276.655, May 31, 1939. Application `for refissue February-19, .1941, Serial No. 379,736

1.0 Claims.

This invention relates to shelving and particularly to supports therefor. Itisaprimary ob- -ject .and purpose of the present invention to provideia -very simple, practicalandiuseful shelving construction and support for adjustably carry ing '.horizontal shelves "between thevertical ends offcases or frames, whereby the shelves may be readily adjusted to a'large number-of positions andheld in any :position to which adjusted. It `isa 'further object of the invention toy provide a shelving rsupport construction-which may also be used to lock ashelf in a Iposition lto which ad-v justed, and prevent its vupward movement away `from'thesupporting element beneath, and, preferably, Ythe locking .meanswill .fbe identical with thesshelf carrying andsupportingmeans.

"Many other `objects and `purposes Athan those ,stated will be apparentas an understanding of the invention is had from thefzollowing description, taken infconnection withqthe, accompanying Fig. ,l 'is-a lfragmentary vertical ysection illus- .trating'theshelving support of -my-invention used with :a horizontally located;v shelf, vand also showingthemanner yin which the-shelf is Iheld against i vertical movement.

Eig. .r2eis1-a fragmentaryverticalfsection of one endfofia shelf, A.and .the -vertical supporting mem :ber `which carries lit, the shelfsupportingmeans .being-shown v in.. elevation.

Fig. ..3 .is .-.a horizontal section .through one end ,ofthe shelvingstructure, showing a shelf support Eig. 4 .is ,a .longitudinal ,vertical section through the channel vmember which .is mounted upon ra vertical endof the shelving structure, and.upon which theimmediate shelf supporting elements are adjustably. carried, and

' Fig. 5`is avperspective .View of one of the shelf carirying'brackets, which also may be used above amshelf to 'maintain'itagainst upward movement.

*hi-ke reference characters refer to like parts in the -differentrgures ofthe drawing.

In `shelving two spaced-apart vertical ends I are provided-which -may be rconnected attheir lower ends Yby a base andat their upper ends 'by a-top cornice. fAt the inner-sides Aof the end members -I, and at at least two points between the lfrontfand-rear edgesof the ends I, a sheet metalU-shaped-channelis inserted in a vertical groove-made l"for its'reception, the channel being 4bent intoform `from a-singleplateof sheet metal, andihaving sides 2 Vconnected by a bendat 3. At the youter'edges of the sides 2, flanges 4 maybe turnedfoutwardly away from eachother. From :ber described, tongues v5 and '6 Vare struck inwardly asbest shown inFig. `4, the tongues-5 ex tending upwardly Aand vinwardly at an angle to .the vertical, and the ,tonguesf fromthe opposite yside extending downwardly and inwardly vas shown, whereby said tongues overlapeach other in spaced pairs, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The shelving brackets `which are used are made 'from a single plate of Asheet metal into the form shown in-Fig. A5. Axhorizontal ledge I is provided, from whichlis an integral downwardly extending section .8. At `one edge ofthe section 8 a section 9 is turned at vright angles, ybeing cut away at yits upper portion soas not to reach to the upper edges of said section 8, and at its free upper corner the section `9 is continued in a vertical linger I0.

As vshelf "bracket of the character Ydescribed may .be inserted, as indicated in iFig. 2 into the space -between the sides 2 of the channel, the iinger I'D extending vertically back of two of the `overlapping tongues 5 and 6, while the lower edge of the section 9 bears upon the upper edge of `the nextlowermost tongue 5, as shown in Fig. 4. The section lies flat against the inner side of ithe end I of the shelving frame, with the ledge 1 extending horizontally therefromat right angles Ato and Vaway from `the inner side of ysaid end member I. With a plurality of thev bracket members carried bythe opposite end members 'I of the frame, having their ledges 'I al1 in the same horizontal plane, a shelf Il (Fig. 2) may be placed vthereupon and `be held and supported in .a horizontal position. If desired like bracket 4members may be hooked into the channel members in inverted position spaced upwardly from the supporting bracket members a distance equal to the thickness of the'shelf and the shelf insertedbetween the upper and lower brackets as 'illustrated in Fig. 2, which `will prevent the shelf from being inadvertently raised out of position.

With this construction also, by properly spacing the tongues 5 and I, a shelf such as -I I of wood and of the normal standard thickness of a wooden shelf maybe supported and locked in place as described, while a narrower shelf I2 of glass, as in Fig. l, may be supported upon the same lower brackets, but because of its reduced thickness of the glass shelf which is approximately one-half the thickness of a shelf of wood.

The construction described is simple, yet very practical and useful. In use it has proven very satisfactory.

It is to be understood that the invention is not restricted in use to supporting shelves. The same construction without change may be applied to cases or cabinets to serve vas adjustable drawer supports, the drawers. resting upon and moving over the ledges 1. There are various other places of use which will occur to those skilled in the art, and which have occurred to me, therefore, the invention is to be considered as comprehending all forms of structure and all uses of the structure such as come within the scope of the appended claims which define the invention.

I claim:

1. A construction of the class described comprising, a vertically positioned supporting member of channel form having vertical spaced apart sides, one of said sides having tongues struck therefrom upwardly and inwardly at an angle to the vertical, and the other of said sides having tongues struck therefrom downwardly and inwardly, whereby the tongues substantially engage against each other at adjacent sides, said tongues being spaced vertically in the length of the support, and a bracket of flat metal having a section to pass between two adjacent pairs of tongues, said section resting at its lower edge upon a lower tongue and having at its upper inner portion an upwardly extending finger located -behind the upper tongues, and said bracket including a horizontal ledge extending away from the support, as specified.

2. In a construction of the class described, a support having spaced apart parallel vertical sides, the depth of the space between said sides being greatly in excess of the distance between said sides, vertically spaced supporting means located horizontally between the sides of the support, a shelf supporting bracket having a flat vertical portion adapted to rest at its lower edge on one of said supporting means and to have a hooked connection at its upper portion with the next adjacent upper means, said bracket having a substantially horizontal ledge extending away from the support, and a second like bracket located in an inverted position over and spaced from the rst bracket, located between and connected with two of said spaced supporting means above the first bracket, whereby its horizontal ledge will be located over and parallel to the horizontal ledge of the iirst bracket, between which ledges the edge portion of a shelf is adapted to be placed, as specied.

3. A shelf bracket comprising, a vertical section having at its free upper corner an upwardly extending nger, a second vertical section integrally connected with the first section at the edge thereof opposite said finger and located in a plane substantially at right angles to the first section, and a substantially horizontal ledge integrally `connected with and extending at right angles from the upper portion of said second section, as and for the purposes specified.

4. A shelf bracket formed from a single plate of at metal comprising, a section located in a substantially vertical plane having parallel upper and lower edges and having a vertically extending finger at its upper free corner portion, the edge of said section, from the lower outer edge of said linger downwardly to the lower edge of the section, being inclined to the vertical, said bracket including a second section located in a substantially vertical plane and integrally connected at one edge to the opposite edge of the first section and extending above the first section for a short distance, and then bent into a substantially horizontal ledge which extends away from said finger, as specified.

5. A construction of the class described comprising, a vertical member having a vertical slot therein at its inner side, the depth of which is greatly in excess of its width, a vertical narrow .channel structure having spaced apart sides housed in said slot and presenting an elongated vertical narrow opening from one end thereof to the other, vertically spaced supporting devices located lbetween the sides of said channel and disposed inwardly a substantial distance from the outer opening thereof, and a bracket having a vertical fiat metal portion extending into said channel between its sides cooperatively associated with said supporting devices, as specied.

6. A :construction of the class described comprising, la vertical member having a vertical slot therein at its inner side extending partially through said member toward its outer side, the depth of the slot being greatly in excess of its width, `a vertical support having parallel spaced apart flat metal sides located in said slot, the sides of said support lying against opposite sides of said slot and being spaced a short distance apart, supporting devices extending between and carried by said sides of the support and located inwardly a substantial distance from the outer opening between said sides of the support, and a bracket having a vertical hat metal portion eX- tending between the sides of the support cooperatively associated with selected spaced supporting devices to thereby detachably |carry said bracket, as specified.

'7. A construction of the class described comprising, a vertical member having a narrow vertical channel therein at its inner side, the depth of which is greatly in excess of its width, vertically spaced supporting devices located between the sides of said channel and disposed inwardly a substantial distance from the outer opening thereof, a bracket having a vertical iiat portion of slightly less width than the width of the channel and slightly less in height than the vertical distance between two adjacent supporting supporting devices extending into said channel and means for detachably interlocking said vertical flat portion with the upper of two immediately adjacent supporting devices and with the lower edge of the vertical flat portion bearing against the lower of said two adjacent supporting devices.

8. A construction of the class described comprising, a vertical member having a vertical slot therein at its inner side, the slot being wholly within said side and the depth of the slot being greatly in excess of its width, vertically spaced supporting means located between the sides of said slot and disposed inwardly a substantial distance from the outer opening thereof, and a bracket having a vertical flat metal portion extending into said slot between its sides and between two immediately adjacent supporting means, said fiat metal portion being slightly less in height than the vertical distance between any two adjacent supporting devices, and means on said vertical flat portion adapted to detachably engage back of the upper of any two immediately adjacent supporting devices, the lower edge v of said vertical flat portion of the bracket resting upon the next lower supporting device.

9. A construction of the class described comprising, a vertical member having a narrow vertical slot therein at its inner side, the depth oi` which greatly exceeds its width, spaced horizontal supporting elements between the sides of the slot located an appreciable distance inwardly from the opening of said slot, detachable and interchangeable fixtures mounted on said member having fiat vertical bracket portions of a thickness slightly less than the narrow widths of said slots and of a height slightly less than the vertical distance between two immediately adjacent horizontal supporting elements extending into said slots and means on said flat vertical bracket portions detachably engaging with selected supporting elements whereby the brackets are held against upward or outwardly bodily movement in a direction yat right angles to the plane of the inner side of said member, said vertical flat bracket portions at their lower edges bearing upon the next adjacent horizontal supporting elements.

10. A construction of the class described comprising, a vertical member having a vertical slot therein in a side thereof, a plurality of vertically spaced supporting elements between the sides of the slot located an appreciable distance inwardly from the opening of said slot and between s-aid opening and the bottom of the slot, a detachable adjustable fixture mounted on said member, said fixture having a iiat portion in a vertical plane extending into said slot and having means to detachably engage with said supporting elements, the vertical dimensions of said flat portion being greatly in excess of its thickness and being slightly less in thickness than the width of the slots so as to be freely received therein, and means on said vertical iiat portion detachably connecting with the upper oi two adjacent selected supporting elements one located over the other, said vertical flat portion resting 20 on the next lower supporting element.

KENNETH C. WELCH. 

